Bridging the information gap

How can the geographic, educational and rural-urban divide in a country as vast and diverse as Indonesia - a 5000km-long archipelago of over 240 million people - be bridged?

Kjerstin Andreasen

Published 18.03.2016, 07:33

How can the technical findings of over 300 pages of an EITI Report be effectively communicated to communities living near mines and oilfields?

EITI Indonesia has embraced these challenges and brought the EITI to local communities through different media. Interactive maps allow users to visualise concession data and to check how much companies in their region have paid in taxes and other payments. Radio and TV talk shows discussing EITI, transparency and the extractive industries are broadcast nationwide.

The comic book “We want to know”, aimed at a young audience in resource-rich districts, describes a fictitious corruption scandal. It shows transparency mechanisms that are tools to monitor company activities. It shares ideas about how people might use such data as a means of tracking payments, uncovering any irregularities and for advocacy with government officials.

The Progress Report is the EITI’s annual overview of the progress to improve transparency and governance of natural resources in the EITI countries. It complements the reporting from the EITI Board to the EITI Members’ Meeting and annual financial reporting.